Juli Dechantsbirne. 14. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 239. 1889. 15. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 51, Pl. 108. 1894.
The extremely early and highly flavored fruits, which are borne in prodigious quantities, make this a very desirable pear for the home garden. The fruits have no value for the markets, as they are small, do not keep well, and are unattractive. The tree, while never large, is of medium size, comes in bearing early, is hardy, and is as free as most of its orchard associates from blight. Both fruit and foliage suffer badly from pear-scab, and no amount of spraying can give the fruits a fair cheek in seasons when this fungus is epidemic.
Van Mons is supposed to have originated this variety about 1800 as Diel mentioned it among his best pears in 1812. Summer Doyenné was first brought to the notice of American pomologists by William Kenrick, who compiled a description of it as early as 1836. It does not, however, appear to have been introduced until 1843. It was recommended for general culture in the United States by the American Pomological Society in 1852.
Tree variable in size, upright, vigorous, very productive; trunk slender; branches slender, slightly zigzag, brownish, overlaid with gray scarf-skin, marked with numerous conspicuous lenticels; branchlets slender, long, light brown mingled with green, the new growth tinged with red, smooth, glabrous except near the ends of the new growth, with numerous raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds small, short, sharply pointed, plump, free; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves 2⅞ in. long, 1⅛ in. wide, thin, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1¾ in. long, tinged with pink. Flower-buds small, short, plump, free, singly on very short spurs; flowers showy, 1¼ in. across, in dense clusters, 7 to 9 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1¼ in. long, slender, pubescent.
Fruit ripe in early August; small, 1½ in. long, 1⅝ in. wide, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, symmetrical; stem 1⅛ in. long, slender; cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, slightly furrowed, often lipped; calyx small, closed; lobes separated at the base, short, narrow, acuminate; basin shallow, obtuse, furrowed; skin thin, smooth, tender, waxen yellow, washed or blushed with bright red, deepening on the exposed cheek to crimson; dots numerous, small, russet, obscure; flesh tinged with yellow, fine-grained, tender and melting, juicy, variable in flavor and quality, pleasantly sprightly under favorable conditions; quality variable, good under the best conditions. Core closed, axile, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, narrow, urn-shaped; carpels roundish-ovate; seeds small, narrow, flat, acute.
TYSON
1. Mag. Hort. 12:433, fig. 30. 1846. 2. Horticulturist 1:433. 1846-47. 3. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 51. 1848. 4. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:33, Pl. 1851. 5. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 444, fig. 1857. 6. Ibid. 870, fig. 1869. 7. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:710, fig. 1869. 8. Oberdieck Obst-Sort. 333. 1881. 9. Lauche Deut. Pom. II: No. 95, Pl. 95. 1883. 10. Ont. Dept. Agr. Fr. Ont. 182, fig. 1914.